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Daily Archives: January 24, 2013

I love after Christmas bargains. Such pretty things at half the price. I was shopping at Walmart when I found this Better Homes & Gardens centerpiece. I couldn’t resist it. But its design limited me to Christmas. I had a better idea:

I love to decorate for the holidays. Especially the dinner table. Making the items makes it unique. I’ll show you how to do it too!

A diy place setting

Items you will need:

1 yard of patterned fabric

1 yard of solid colored fabric

1 spool of ribbon (my spool was 7/8″ wide by 9 feet long)

measuring tape

sewing machine & thread & pins

scissors

brown craft/packing paper (to make the pattern)

I start all of my patterns using brown craft/packing paper. It’s better to make a mistake on paper than on your fabric.

starting your pattern

Measure 17 1/2″ by 12″. That’s the size that works for me, but you can adjust it to fit your needs.

Then measure 2″ from the corners and mark. Draw a line to connect the marks.

Repeat on all 4 corners. Cut off the triangle pieces that were your corners.

I used 2 yards of fabric for 4 place mats. One yard of patterned fabric & one yard of solid fabric.

Cut out 4 place mats from the patterned fabric:

Cut out 4 place mats from the solid colored fabric:

Add some decorative ribbon to the solid side of the place mat piece:

To get an idea of where I wanted the ribbon placement, I laid the silverware out on it:

Then I added 1/4″ inward form the side to allow for the seam allowance. Mine was 4 1/2″ in from both sides.

Pin the ribbon in place & sew in place.

After sewing the ribbon in place on all 4 place mat pieces, pin the right side (good side) of the solid fabric to the right side (good side) of the patterned fabric together.

Stitch around the place mat pieces, leaving an opening large enough to insert your hand to turn the place mat right side out.

Turn place mat right side out. Press & pin the opening (that you left opened to turn). Top stitch about 1/4″ all the way around. That will keep the edges crisp & the opening closed. Clip your threads off. It’s now ready to use!

That’s all there is to it! Have fun & choose the fabric that will match your decor.